Hagg Lake

The summer heat has had us heading for water!  We decided to check out Hagg Lake.  It's a huge artificial lake that was created in 1975 by the Scoggins Dam.  Tons of people were there boating and fishing.  We were disappointed to find it was not a great place to swim.  The lake bottom and shores were really muddy and rocky.  But we were surprised to find that the creeks that feed the lake were marvelous to explore.  Jasper jumped right in and found some wonderful critters- snails, caddis fly larvae, crawdads, and tiny fish that I believe were sculpins.  Washington County charges $5 per vehicle for admission to the park.  

We also stopped by to see the Tree to Tree Adventure Park, which is a Tarzan-approved tree canopy playground with lots of ziplines.  I just can't even begin to describe how cool this place is!  The only problem for us is that there are height requirements.  Jasper met the requirements for the kiddie course, but thought it was so much less cool than the other courses that he decided he'd rather wait until he grows another 9" or so for the next level.  He is now madly eating vegetables and hoping he will grow faster!  There is a small play structure which would be helpful for younger siblings who aren't tall enough to swing through the trees, but I would recommend bringing other things to amuse them as well.  Advance reservations are recommended.

Jasper found this  baby crawdad.

A couple of the tiny fish.

The things that look like bits of wood are caddis fly larvae.

The crawdad and some caddis flies.